Herbie Hancock has earned so many laurels over the years he could probably fill a small forest with them. Yet, while this versatile keyboard legend and composer is grateful to have won an Academy Award, 14 Grammy Awards (putting him neck-and-neck with Paul Simon and Michael Jackson), five MTV awards and many more accolades than can be listed here, he prefers to look forward, not back.

“The idea of laurels is really momentary for me,” said Hancock, who performs Friday night with his international quartet at San Diego’s Balboa Theatre.

“I deeply appreciate any kind of laurels that others may bestow upon me, or when they recognize me in some way. But I’m always looking … to the next thing that I can explore. I always want to be a student, not only of music but of life, for the rest of my life. I think that is what is going to be instrumental in maintaining a youthful experience, no matter how old I may be.”

For the record, Hancock is 71, although the schedule he maintains might tire a 17-year-old.

Hancock has three different tours confirmed for this fall. One is with his quartet, one with a symphony orchestra (to perform Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”) and a solo outing that marks the first time he will ever perform unaccompanied concerts in this country.

“Why am I doing a solo piano tour here now? Because I haven’t done one before! That’s the way I do most things. I make the records I make because I haven’t done them before.”

Hancock credits a joint 2009 tour of Europe with classical piano star Lang Lang and an orchestra as partial inspiration for mounting his upcoming solo tour (for which he will utilize a grand piano, digital synthesizers and computers). The repertoire for his tour with Lang Lang, which included “Rhapsody in Blue,” reignited Hancock’s passion for the classical music he studied in his youth before discovering the joys of jazz.

“I had to practice again, like I used to when I was a teenager, and to rekindle my interest in performing classical music,” he said with a laugh.

“I’ve been listening to classical music for years — I never really stopped — but I hadn’t been playing it. So for me, as an adult, it’s a new experience. I’m learning new things, not just about music, but new things about classical music, specifically a new understanding I didn’t have before, because I never got to be a professional in classical music in the past.”

Since rising to fame with the fabled Miles Davis Quintet in the 1960s, Hancock has repeatedly explored and fused new styles. In 2008, he became the first jazz artist since 1964 to win Album of the Year honors at the Grammy Awards for his lovingly crafted Joni Mitchell homage, “River: The Joni Letters.”

“Musically, my exploration of different territories is a result of my basically curious spirit,” Hancock said. “It didn’t come from me wanting to bring together things from some humanistic standpoint. It was about: ‘I’m curious. What happens if you put this with that? What would be the end result?’ It’s a basic characteristic that I have, which relates to my interest in science since I was a kid... … I have a lot to explore.”

Indeed. Wasn't he enrolled as a science major in college, before giving into his passion for jazz?

"Yeah I was," Hancock affirmed. "So that basic curiosity expressed itself in music and in not staying on the same path. Because I was getting bored, or I'd at least be afraid of getting bored. But from the time I was working with Miles (Davis) -- Miles always encourages musicians to explore territory outside of what you know. So with him being the great master, it was a strong encouragement and it was laid out and evident for me to explore.

"The next step in that exploration was when I began practicing Buddhism, which is about equality, freedom, the elevation of the human spirit and life force, and that every human being has infinite potential. And that infinite potential is called the Buddhist nature. I've been practicing Buddhism for almost 40 years now. November will begin the 39th year.

For Hancock, as for his fellow former Davis Quintet band mate Wayne Shorter, the practice of Buddhism is intrinsically linked to their public and private pursuits in large and small ways.

"Buddhism brings out your compassionate spirit, and your appreciation and respect for other people," the keyboardist noted.

"And when we look at the world today, and how much conflict there is, and how much greed and delusion there is about the most important things in life, which go beyond monetary value and material things. Things like courage, wisdom, compassion and being non-judgmental and improving the sense of team work between people. All of that puts, in a way, a new face on what began as a curiosity for me.

"It opens up a more humanistic spirit in me and anyone who practices Buddhism: What can we do to elevate the quality of life for ourselves and for others? For me, that's expressed in an interest in bringing people together, musically, but also going beyond music."

That humanistic emphasis led Hancock to re-evaluate himself more than a decade ago, both as a musician and as a person. The fact that he was recently appointed as cultural ambassador for the United Nations neatly dovetails with his spiritual beliefs and his worldview.

"About 12-15 years ago I had a deep realization about myself and how I perceived myself," Hancock recalled.

"I used to perceive myself all my life as a musician, ever since I was a little kid starting piano lessons at the age of seven. Here I am 64, years later, and I'm still playing the piano! Actually, I would perceive myself as a musician first. Well, it occurred to me that, to my daughter, I'm not. She knows I'm a musician, but I'm her father. And my wife perceives me as her husband. As a matter of fact, when I met her, she didn’t know anything about jazz and hardly knew who Miles Davis was, who I was working with at the time I met her.

"But when I go to vote, I'm a citizen. And when I watch the news on TV I'm a citizen, not only of the United States, but of the world. And it happens that, when I travel around the world, I have the chance to experience to a certain degree what being a global citizen is. So Buddhism really is also about world peace. It's about the importance of human life and sustaining life. So, if you put all of those things together, me being appointed an ambassador for UNESCO – the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – that fits me so well. It's exactly where my heart lies and it give me the opportunity to work as a global citizen for a more peaceful world in all those areas."

Singing Hancock's praises

Herbie Hancock counts some of the most celebrated musicians in the world among his fans. Here’s what a fellow jazz legend and two top San Diego keyboardists have to say about this enduring music great.

Jazz piano great Chick Corea, 70 (who replaced Hancock in the Miles Davis quintet in 1968): “I love Herbie to death. I consider him my brother and my teacher, too. I grew up listening to him, all of the early stuff he did and his great contributions to Miles’ group. Herbie is the best.”

El Cajon jazz pianist Joshua White, 26 (who on Sept. 12 won second place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, for which Hancock was a judge): “Herbie’s impact on my life has been so great that it’s hard to articulate. The first time I heard him as a teenager was on an album he’d made with Miles Davis in the 1960s. And even though it was recorded more than 40 years ago, it still sounded so fresh and new. From that point on, he’s been the model of what you should be as a jazz pianist.”

Eclectic San Diego singer-songwriter A.J. Croce, 39: “I first saw Herbie when we both played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, around 1998, and was blown away by the work he did on piano and the Fender Rhodes (electric piano). He’s an innovator and always pushing to find new sounds. But I love it most when he’s playing the piano, because he’s such a unique player. His (1974) album, ‘Thrust,’ is still one of the greatest jazz-funk albums ever.””